Dutch · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "de vriendin" in Dutch?

Q: How do you pronounce de vriendin in Dutch?

de vriendin is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /də vrinˈdɪn/. It means “friend (f.).” duh vreen-DIN — the beat moves to the final syllable, unlike the masculine "vriend."

duh vreen-DIN — the beat moves to the final syllable, unlike the masculine "vriend."

de vriendin /də vrinˈdɪn/

The -in suffix pulls the accent onto itself, so "vriendin" is end-stressed where "vriend" is not. That is a general rule for this suffix — boerin, koningin, vriendin — and it means the masculine and feminine forms of the same word can have opposite rhythms.

Listen: de vriendin

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Sound it out

vr The same half-devoiced v plus tap as in "vriend," but here it opens an unstressed syllable and passes even more quickly.

ie The same vowel as in "vriend," but now in the weak syllable, so it gets less time and less volume.

n The consonant that bridges the two syllables, and here the d that follows it stays fully voiced because it is not word-final.

in Short lax i plus a firm n, carrying the primary stress. This is the feminine suffix -in, and it always takes the beat.

Hear it in a sentence

Mijn vriendin komt morgen.

My friend arrives tomorrow.

Listen: Mijn vriendin komt morgen.

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"Mijn vriendin komt morgen" uses the present tense for a future arrival, as Dutch normally does. Note the ambiguity Dutch lives with: "vriendin" means both a female friend and a girlfriend, and only context resolves it.

Where English speakers slip

Front-stressing to "VRIEN-din" is the default error, and it also obscures the suffix that carries the meaning. Learners also devoice the d in the middle by over-applying the final-devoicing rule — it is not word-final here, so it stays a genuine d.